Sequester likely to survive as shutdown hits

There’s no deal yet from Congress over how to fund the government, but when there is, it’s likely to include the billions of dollars of indiscriminate cuts known as sequestration.

Before Texas Sen. Ted Cruz launched the Republican campaign to shut down the government over Obamacare, Democrats planned to use the budget fight to negotiate a replacement for the sequester cuts. But now that Republicans are holding the government hostage, Democrats have agreed to fund the government at sequester levels.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Monday that Democrats should bring a clean spending bill to the floor (i.e. including sequester cuts) now to keep the government funded, allowing for more negotiation on eliminating the sequester later.

On Wednesday, the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein joined NOW w/ Alex Wagner to discuss the latest budget negotiations in Washington and the impact of the sequester throughout the country, something the Huffington Post has reported on extensively.